...some newly qualified lawyers are being told that they will only be taken on as paralegals, while law graduates seeking training contracts are being expected to work without pay.
I'm still relatively anonymous so I'll share.
While I was still there, a girl who had just finished her LPC was taken on for some "work experience". Not sure about anyone else, but when I did work experience, I did some research, copied documents, shadowed, and clerked at court. It would last from 3 days to 3 weeks. Training firm had Stunningalmostparalegal seeing clients on her own and gave her her own case load. And you know what? She wasn't paid for it. The arrangement was only going to last a short while, same as any usual "work experience" arrangement, but by around four months in, she is called in to see the top dog, and told that it wasn't fair that she'd been working so hard for free, and they'd pay her expenses. How generous. She never even had holidays.
Two months later, she was told that the arrangement couldn't go on as it was so for her own good, they'd have to let her go. Wonderful.
Stunningalmostparalegal was a clever girl, otherwise she wouldn't have been allowed to see clients. She gave it her all and worked hard. Luckily she is from a wealthy family, and doesn't have to worry about money otherwise there would be no way that kind of "arrangement" could continue. In effect she was used as a temp until they found another solicitor to work in the department. Yep, that's right, she was replaced by a solicitor.
Its easy to say that its just one of those things students, trainees, and NQs have to do to get ahead and there is no doubt that she had the best work experience she could have asked for. The issue here is that it is taking advantage. If there was enough work available for her to have her own case load (it was that busy), there was money being made and Stunningalmsotparalegal should have been paid.
Not all trainees and paralegals work for Linklaters, and the pay is often dire. In London the Law Society minimum is £18590pa, and outside it is £16,650 pa - there is even an option for the minimum to be waived. These trainees work just as hard as those earning triple that, and maybe harder, knowing the difficulties they will face on qualification.
The trainee I was up against for the NQ position was taken on on a trainee wage which is only just above the Law Society minimum. Was her charge out rate altered in tune with it?
No.
Should this kind of "opportunity" be seen as a right of passage? I don't think it should.
The other problem is that this "cheap" or "free" labour, makes it so much harder for us to find paid work at a reasonable wage. Why would a firm pay someone good money when they could have the work done for next to nothing?
Not sure where I'm going with this. I guess it was just to tell you all... that this shit happens.
